Friday, August 31, 2012

George Khodr, the metropolitan bishop of the archdiocese of Mount
Lebanon of the Orthodox Antiochian church since 1970, was born in
Tripoli. It was from there that he set out to explore the worlds of
theology and philosophy. He embraced dialogue, turning it into a
lifestyle and a way towards engagement.

His deep understanding of religion and theology gave him something
akin to a poet’s conception of God and existence. As such, his writing
in al-Nahar newspaper is characterized by a unique poetic tone
that intertwines spiritual metaphors with the modernity of language.
Khodr was a friend of contemporary modernist poets like Onsi al-Hajj, Adonis and Yusuf al-Khal.

[...]

Khodr discovered that each group knows how to explain its religion to
the other. An enlightened Christian reveals Christian ideology just as
an enlightened Muslim reveals Muslim ideology. “We took long strides in
this dialogue and a belief emerged that these two groups must get to
know each other and come together. Dialogue is intellectual engagement
and discussion of the other’s ideology. This dialogue can carry on to
the extent that the other group becomes responsive.”

But the bishop was shocked lately by a return to sectarianism. The
solution lies according to Khodr in secularism. “As a bishop, I win
under secularism,” he says explaining that adopting secularism would
expel self-interested people and opportunists from the church. “This
will be accomplished but it needs time. Salvation from the current
crisis will come about and peace will reign in the East.”

Thursday, August 30, 2012

So, the American University of Beirut has put online all master's theses written there. Below are links to theses relating to the Orthodox Church. Of particular note are the theses of Amal Morcos and Fr. Boulos Wehbe, as they provide a lot of information about the Orthodox Youth Movement and the monastic revival on the basis of interviews and firsthand accounts.